The present invention relates to an electric can opener wherein a rechargeable battery is utilized.
The prior art to which the present invention is directed includes an electric can opener, as illustrated in FIGS. 19 and 20, having a casing 101 of the main body, a moter and a reduction gear mechanism (not illustrated) disposed inside the casing 101, a can-feed wheel 102 connected to an output end of the reduction gear mechanism, a handle-lever 104 disposed in the upper part of the casing 101 turnable around a fulcrum 103, as shown by chain line in FIG. 19, and a cutter 105 fixed to the handle-lever 104 capable of turning up-and-down following the turning movement of the handle-lever 104 to open a lid 107 of the can. At the top part 110 of the cutter 105, there is normally formed a cutting edge 108 and 109 obliquely cut so that the cutter 105 well bites into the lid 107. Further, as a substitute for the above edges 108, 109, a cutting edge 111 obliquely cut along one side of the cutter 105, as illustrated by one-dot chain line in FIG. 19, is also within the skill of the art as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 42600/1973.
In the can opener mentioned above, the edge of the lid 107 is sandwitched between the cutter 105 and the feed wheel 102, bit by the edge 108 and 109 of the cutter 105, and the can is carried by the feed wheel 102 to open the lid 107.
Most of such electric can opener is used by inserting a plug provided at an end of a cord into an electrical outlet, as seen in Japanese Patent Publication No. 11635/1977. The above type of electric can opener, therefore, cannot be used if an electrical outlet is not installed nearby.
To avoid the drawback mentioned above, a rechargeable electric can opener is commercially available. Such a rechargeable electric can opener is so-called a stand-type one, consisting of a recharger and a main body of the opener, each of which has an individual structure and is separated each other since respective volume is relatively large. The can opener is recharged by connecting the main body of the opener to the recharger, and plugging the recharger via a cord to an electrical outlet. When opening a can, the main body of the opener is removed from the recharger. Thus, the can-opening operation can be carried out at an arbitary place. According to such rechargeable can opener, therefore, the above-mentioned drawback of the opener directly plugged in an electrical outlet can be overcome.
However, the above rechargeable electric can opener has a weakness that a packing volume becomes large and much manufacturing cost is required, since the recharger and the main body of the opener are isolated to each other, and the plug for recharging the recharger is connected to the recharger via a cord. Another weakness is that, when recharging the electric can opener, there are needed two operations; an operation to insert the main body of the can opener to the recharger, and an operation to plug the recharger in the outlet. These two operations are troublesome for a user. Further, recharging will be impossible when the recharger is lost.
An object of the invention is to provide a rechargeable electric can opener which comprises in one small-sized flat casing a main body of the opener and a recharger involving a secondary battery, whereby the secondary battery mounted in the casing can be recharged by inserting an attached plug to an electrical outlet without applying an excessive moment to the plug.
The above and the other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjuction with the accompanying drawings.